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I received a phone call from Peter the Manager at…

I received a phone call from Peter the Manager at the Lock of the Lowe’s visitors centre. The problem with the webcams is all to do with their computer that keeps on crashing. Peter managed to get the webcams going for a short time, after rebooting the computer, but unfortunately it went down again very shortly after. Nothing can be done with the computer until next week. So sorry their will be no webcams from the Lock until the earliest, late next week.

I have uploaded three new photographs of the Horses in France. The first one is the grass gallops that Bliss and Misty will be training on. It would be good to be able to show you the whole site, but it would have taken at least ten photographs, it is a very large, getting on for a couple of miles around the track. The second and third are Misty and Bliss in the Horse Walker. It looks as if it is not very nice for them to be in the Walker, but it is not as it looks. I would not let the Horses do what I thought was not right for them. I have taken off the photograph of the Horse Walker, that showed how large it is. I had to speak to the trainer today, he told me that Bliss and Misty are going out onto the gallops with the other yearling. They are doing a little trotting to start strengthening them.

I have a couple of photographs of the Osprey nest that were taken in the Summer before the eggs hatched. One of the adult Ospreys are on the nest. I will put them on the photo page next week.

I opened my mouth to quick last night, for it started pelting down with rain just before the Horses came in for their night feed. When the weather is like this, at this time of year we keep the Horses in overnight. Unless it is raining as it at the moment, in the morning they will be turned out in the waterproof turn out rugs. As their is no decent grass for the Horses to eat in the field we have started to put hay out for them in the day. Now we have started putting the hay out, the Horses wait by the gate until we give it to them. We need to be careful how we put the hay out. If you don’t put it out in separate piles a good distance apart, with a couple of extra piles over the amount of Horses that you are in the field, you can finish up with a kicking session. It is always Breeze who start the arguments.

I saw the Red Stag and eight Hinds in the the valley field last night. It was after midnight, so I cant imagine many of you saw them. It will be good if they keep coming through the Winter for there will be a chance that the Hinds may give Birth in the area. When we first came to Denbury there were signs that some gave birth in the woods behind the Horses field, to the left of the tree house.

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We found one of the Portland Ewes had died in…

We found one of the Portland Ewes had died in the night. She was an old Ewe who I thought may have died in the Summer. Sheep lose their teeth as they get older and are not able to eat the grass that well. When this starts to happen they are called broken mouthed. The Ewe managed to get out of the fenced off area yesterday afternoon and was walking around grazing. I really wasn’t that concerned about her as she looked fine. Definitely not that she was going to die overnight. When I went to make sure that the Horses were alright before we went to be bed, I also checked that the Ewe had not wondered off, although she was not one to go off on her own, She was grazing by the gate of the fenced area. Unfortunately that is what sometimes happens with live stock.

We are going to have to think about weaning Willow off of Lady next week. She is seven months old and it is now time. We should have weaned her a few weeks back, but we were so busy breaking Bliss and Misty that we didn’t get the time. When Bliss and Misty were here it would have been a lot easier. It would just have been a case of putting Lady in a paddock with Arnie and letting Willow run with the two Fillies. Within a few weeks Lady would have dried up and that would have been the end of it. Now I fear it is going to be a little more difficult. I will let you know when we are going to do it, an how it goes.

This year has been the driest Winter that I can remember for a long while. It also helps that it has not been particularly cold. Mind you it is tonight. Unless we have a very wet spell, we maybe able to keep the Horses out in the field for a few weeks in to December, what ever happens they will be stabled before January, to allow for the fields to recover before the Spring grass starts to grow.

Jan, I am sorry but I don’t know what is wrong with the SWT camera. I saw that it was not working last night and had started to phone Peter this morning to let him know, but the camera came on just before it rang so I didn’t bother. I will email him now. It could well be that the IR lamps have stopped working and you cant see anything because of that. But it is a remote location at the end of the telephone line, so the broadband connection will never be a 100% reliable.

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I am not putting any new photographs on today as…

I am not putting any new photographs on today as the page at the moment will only allow for ten at a time. Many more will only cause the page to open slowly, when you try to access it. The option would be to reduce the size of the photographs on the page, but I would think that it is better to see the photographs as they are. I will replace some over the next couple of days.

I am still doing the remote control Duck to put on the lake. With going away to France and other work, I have not had a lot of time to be making it. The first one that I started I did wrong, the second one didn’t go to well either. I had put in the engine and steering, on testing it in water, to make sure that there were no leeks, it started to fill up with water. I refitted all the parts again, making sure that it was water tight, but still water poured in. It turned out that I had wasted my time redoing it as the water was coming in some where else, that took me about three seconds to stop. It wont take to much longer to finish getting it motorised. I can the start to fit the camera. That is not going to be that easy. The other problem that I could get is that the parts that I am fitting may be to heavy, causing the Duck to sink. The battery that I have got for the Duck has got to control the electric engine, the camera with IR lamp and the wireless connection. It is very small but quite heavy. I am hoping that the Duck will be able to go for up to half an hour at a time, with every thing working. So the battery is going to be the biggest problem. I made need to fix some shaped buoyancy under the Duck to keep it from sinking. The best material would be cork. Cant imagine were they sell that now. The other option could be another duck in tow, being attached by an umbilical cord between the two, and put the battery in the towed duck. Why did I give myself the problem?

We were woken very early this morning, with what sounded like banging from around the Farm Yard. I went and had a quick look, but there was nothing to be seen. We put it down to Branston knocking into, or knocking down something in the yard. At about lunch time I went into our dining room to find a very sooty Dove. It had obviously fell down the chimney and that was the noise that had woken us earlier on. The chimney is for a very large inglenook fireplace. We put a liner chimney in it when we first moved to Denbury, for a wood burner. We moved the wood burner to a different room but left the liner in, so the dove fell down a very long small pipe. We have had a few smaller birds fall down the chimney, but the Dove was the largest. It made a fair bit of mess for the short time that it was in the dining room.

I have been watching the camera in the small Barn where I saw the Stoat or Weasel a few weeks back. I have seen a few Mice and a couple of Rats, but that is all. I have been recording a lot of footage of the webcams. When I get time I will check the recording and see what I get on it.

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There are four new photographs on the new photo page…

There are four new photographs on the new photo page. You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see them, as I was shown how to upload photographs and it was easier for me to add them at the bottom rather than change the sequence. I have a little more learning to do. If you are unable to see the new photos try refreshing the page.

The first new photograph is Misty being ridden before both Bliss and Misty were taken for their first ride in the woods. The second is of Bliss. The third and fourth is when Bliss and Misty having their legs washed off after returning from the wood, They look quite calm, but this photo was not showing what really happened. Both Bliss and Misty dislike having their legs washed. Not many Horses do, but they do get use to it. Both Bliss and misty were jumping about and turning away at the time.

Elaine, that was a Roe Deer on camera this evening. I think that the camera moving may have frightened it off.

We would like to try to get more self sufficient at Denbury. To cut down on the running costs of the farm, but also to see how far we could go in self sufficiency as an experiment. Our first project that we did was earlier this year, when we sunk a bore hole to supply the Farms water. We had various means of supplying some of our water, but it was unreliable and needed to be tested regularly for bacteria. We used water from springs to water the livestock and the Farm House water was supplied from a well that we have in the kitchen. The well was closed up when we moved into Denbury. We knew that it existed by the previous occupant. When we found it, it was right in the centre of the kitchen, so we decided to make it into a feature, by having it built as an old stone well. We had a round oak top made with a hole, so that we could put safety glass in, to save any children who may have decided to sit on it, from falling in, with the glass top we are also able to see down into the well.

Another reason for our own bore hole was that earlier in the year we had suddenly became responsible for over half of a mile of under ground water pipe that ran through other peoples Farms. Although we were given the right for access on to the Farms to maintain the pipe, we were unsure how long the pipe would last before it needed to be renewed. Even a small leak would cost a fortune to repair, but worse was that the pipe may have had a leak, that we may not have noticed. We could then have had over a short period of time, a massive bill of thousands of pounds for lost water.

With having the well and springs on the Farm, we knew that we had a lot of underground water. Where the best place for a bore hole was, we had no idea, so we contacted a water diviner. When the diviner came, he was not the romantic image of an elderly grey haired gentleman with a forked willow dowsing stick. He was a rough looking overall-ed bloke with two un-fluxed bent welding rods. But they did the job. Within a few minute the Diviner chose the spot in the orchard where the water would be. It was only me doubting his ability, his speed and my suggestions that he looked else where and tried other locations. In the end he had made his decision, the first place was it, and he suggested after a few measurement against his body that the bore hole would supply twenty eight gallons of water a minute.

A few weeks later the bore hole was started. It should only have taken a couple of days to drill and line the the sixty metre hole, but the drill went through five underwater rivers, causing the river bedding to be washed into the hole, so that the liner when put in could not go down to the desired depth. The liner was taken out and the bore hole re drilled. Much to the relief of everyone on site the second drilling was successful, and a bore hole of a little under fifty metre was drilled and lined. If the hole had started filling in again, another site would have had to be found. The water pump and all ancillaries were put in and the water tested. Farm land very often has bacteria soaking through to the water courses. Our test results were very good with no bacteria or other problems. The results are measured from one to ten, the higher meaning problems. Our result were all zero. Because of having holiday cottages we put in an ultra violet water purification and filtration system. It is the best water that we have tasted, and probably one of the best decisions we have mad on the farm. I don’t know how much water bills are, but I should reckon in the region of

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There are three more photographs on the photo page tonight…

There are three more photographs on the photo page tonight. The first one is a Horse walker. I have a couple of Photos of Bliss and Misty using it. They are not very good, but I will get them on the page hopefully tomorrow. The second photo is when Bliss and Misty were being led on head collars to make sure that they were safe, when first ridden in France, by the French riders, in the fenced area. The last photo is when Bliss Misty returned from their first ride in the woods with the lead Horse, that accompanied them. I had reason to speak with the Trainer this morning, the day after the ride in the woods Bliss and Misty went out with all of the other Yearlings. Their training is now starting.

Once that I have been shown how to install photographs onto the new photo page, I hope to be able to let you have any photographs that you would like shown, to be put onto the page. It will only be for photographs of Wildlife, maybe your gardens or flower and maybe even you pets. We will not under any circumstances put up photographs of yourselves or any other person. Don’t send me any photographs until I let you know you can, or I will have to delete them from my email, as they are liable to slow my computer

My Lads have been tidying the lake area for a few days. By the side of the lake is a stream that runs all the way along the lake. I always believed it is where the Kingfisher nests, as the banks of the stream are from six to four foot high. an ideal spot I thought. In fact the Kingfisher nests on the opposite side of the lake behind the Bird feeders that you can sometimes see on camera two. Over the years the boundary hedge has overgrown so much that the stream is hardly visible, so my Lads are cutting the overhanging branches, so that we are able to see what is going on in the stream. It should be a little more inviting for the Kingfisher and other wildlife.

With the stream having large banks either side we are going to test the flow of water, to see if we will be able to generate any power from the water. The stream doesn’t run that fast, but after rain it has a fair bit of power. I think it will be touch and go, but we will try. Another option would be to try the flow from the lake when it runs into the smaller pond. It would be good to be more self sufficient with our energy needs, and of course more environmentally friendly. We need the Farmhouse roof stripped and re tiled or we would have installed both Solar Panel for our hot water and power on the roof. The Farmhouse roof is south facing and very long, so it will be ideal. That is one of our projects for next year. I have also been thinking of installing a Wind Turbine for power. The only good place for that is in the field where I feed the Badgers. That is one reason that I haven’t gone ahead with doing it. The other reason is that I think that they are unsightly. What we have managed to do this year is to put in our own water supply. I will tell you about it, maybe tomorrow.

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When I got back from France on Thursday I had…

When I got back from France on Thursday I had received a phone call from one of six UK Horse Trainers that I had contacted when I was first making enquiries about training Bliss and Misty for racing. You will probably remember better than me how long ago that was. But whatever, it was over two months ago. The phone call was the return call from then. I have only received one other reply from those six that I initially contacted. All the Trainers that I did contact were well known. I should think that the others will return my phone calls when their stables are not full. After my eye opening experience of the French racing set up, I would think that there could be more following my footsteps. Obviously Race Horse Owners in the UK are being taken for a ride. Excuse the pun. The wages in France are much higher than in the UK, Tax is also extremely high and they still manage to be a lot less in their training fees than UK Trainers. I will be making regular phone calls to the French Trainer about Bliss and Misty, and I will let you know how they are getting on. The Trainer has also said that he would send me photographs of Bliss and Misty. You will see a difference in them after a month or so. I will be visiting them late January.

When I spoke to the Trainer about Bliss and Misty when in Chantilly, he could see like me that Bliss would probably be racing before Misty, possibly about June next year. A few of the French Lads indicated with their hands, the size of Bliss’s hind quarters. That is the engine, she also has a large chest, another good sign. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Misty will be late racing or that either of them will be any good. I have seen both of them grow and Misty is an athletically built Horse.

Also when I returned from France I had an invoice waiting for me to cover the cost of the Sheep that I put into auction two weeks back. I must admit that being Portland’s was against them, but after commission, Tolls and Bio-Sercurity what ever they mean, I finished up owing the Auctioneers

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When I got back from France on Thursday I had…

When I got back from France on Thursday I had received a phone call from one of six UK Horse Trainers that I had contacted when I was first making enquiries about training Bliss and Misty for racing. You will probably remember better than me how long ago that was. But whatever, it was over two months ago. The phone call was the return call from then. I have only received one other reply from those six that I initially contacted. All the Trainers that I did contact were well known. I should think that the others will return my phone calls when their stables are not full. After my eye opening experience of the French racing set up, I would think that there could be more following my footsteps. Obviously Race Horse Owners in the UK are being taken for a ride. Excuse the pun. The wages in France are much higher than in the UK, Tax is also extremely high and they still manage to be a lot less in their training fees than UK Trainers. I will be making regular phone calls to the French Trainer about Bliss and Misty, and I will let you know how they are getting on. The Trainer has also said that he would send me photographs of Bliss and Misty. You will see a difference in them after a month or so. I will be visiting them late January.

When I spoke to the Trainer about Bliss and Misty when in Chantilly, he could see like me that Bliss would probably be racing before Misty, possibly about June next year. A few of the French Lads indicated with their hands, the size of Bliss’s hind quarters. That is the engine, she also has a large chest, another good sign. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Misty will be late racing or that either of them will be any good. I have seen both of them grow and Misty is an athletically built Horse.

Also when I returned from France I had an invoice waiting for me to cover the cost of the Sheep that I put into auction two weeks back. I must admit that being Portland’s was against them, but after commission, Tolls and Bio-Sercurity what ever they mean, I finished up owing the Auctioneers

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Bliss and Misty s Horse Trainer gave me a choice…

Bliss and Misty’s Horse Trainer gave me a choice of what time did I want to be collected from my Hotel the following morning. The first training session on the gallops started at 7.am. I decided that I would get ready for the second session, being picked up from my Hotel at 8.30am. I would have needed to have got up at 6.am (5.am UK time) to have got ready have breakfast and book out of the Hotel. After the wine tasting the night before, there was a good chance that I might have ignored my alarm call.

I arrived at the stables just as Misty was going to be shod, only trouble was Misty didn’t like that idea at all, she was really playing up not allowing the Farrier to pick up her feet and moving quickly around her stable to get out of his way. After ten minutes he stopped trying and went on to do Bliss. Misty had never had shoes on her feet, so there was a fair chance that on the first attempt she might have been a little difficult. Bliss have previously had front shoes put on at Denbury, after she was a little sore on her feet when she had an infection in one foot, she didn’t bother about having shoes one bit. Misty will have to have a mild sedative so not to upset her on her first shoeing. For the work that she was going to do it really was not a problem for her not to have had shoes for a couple of days.

The first Horses that I was to see on the gallops, were fifteen older Horses that had previously raced. We met the Horses and Riders at the gallops, a very short distance from the stables. I have seen training facilities and gallops in the UK that have been very good, but these French gallops were in a different league. We walked through a gate into fenced off woods of many hundreds of acres. The first part that the Horses used was a circled warm up area, to loosen them up, the surface was deep silica sand. After the warm up we walked to the gallops. There is a photograph on the new photo page of the gallops. The photo gives you an idea of what they are like. I saw four lanes, there may have been more, that are as long as your eyes can see, each one partitioned from the next by the woods, again the surface being deep silica sand that a tractor and machine levels every fifteen minutes. The sand is soft and has a lot of give, that will protect the Horses legs when training and galloping.

We went with another group of Horses to watch them train before the Yearling the same age as Bliss and Misty went out. When we got back from second training session, Bliss and Misty were in a Horse Walker. This is a large fenced circle partitioned into six cubicles that the Horses are put into. It turns as a carousel, making the Horses walk around. This was the first time that Bliss and Misty had ever uses a Walker. I would have expected them to have been very wary of it. On the contrary they looked very happy in the machine. It was probably because I was standing at the gate, for as they pasted me, both stopped for a few moments. The partitioned areas that the Horses walk in are large and they are able to stops for a few moment, walking on before the partition gets very close.

After using the walker Bliss and Misty were taken back to their stable to be saddled for their first ride. Not knowing how well Bliss and Misty had been broken the Trainer needed to see them being ridden on a lead in a small sand school. The Trainer is responsible for both the Horses and the Riders. If the Horses had not been broken properly either could have been injured. I was a little concerned that Bliss and Misty may not have been broken to the standard that the Trainer expected. Both Fillies were mounted by their riders outside of their stables and walked to the sand school. This was the first time that they had been walked out with each other, in fact with any other Horses at all. They didn’t let me down. Although being led on lead ropes, both were calm and well behaved. Within minutes of being in the sand school it was obvious that both Bliss and Misty had been broken well and were allowed to ride on their own, walking, trotting, turning and stopping impeccably. So well that the Trainer allowed them with another older Horse in company to be taken to the woods for a ride.

Bliss and Misty with their riders were led by two of the stable lads along the road to the woods, just in case they spooked at things that they had never seen before. I walked behind to watch them. Once they got to the woods there was very little for me to see of Bliss and Misty, as they turned into the woods, as in the photo, they were taken off of their lead ropes and they disappeared. I stood around for nearly half an hour waiting for them to return, so that I could take some more photographs. Initially I thought that I would get bored waiting for their return, but it was quite busy with other Horses using the woods on the silica sand paths especially made for Horses. When they came into sight I was a little relieved, I was unsure how they would react in unfamiliar surroundings. They were looking around as I would have expected, and by the look of it they had needed to be pushed on a bit. They walked from the woods back to the stables without being led, a large lorry and a couple of cars passed them. Bliss and Misty took no notice what so ever, just going in to a little trot now and then to keep up the lead Horse. This again was a first for them. Riding in company with new riders in unfamiliar surroundings. I as so pleased with the both of them.

It was 1.30pm and time to say goodbye to Bliss and Misty. I spent more time than I should in their stables, spoiling them with the herbal treats. I should think that the next time that I make a visit to Chantilly, both Bliss and Misty will have changed so much that I will hardly be able recognise them. I know that I have sent them to the right place. If they are good enough to win races, in Chantilly is where they will get a great opportunity to do so.

During the coming week I will change the photograph over. They will relate to today’s Diary.

It is cloudy with a bit of drizzle at Denbury tonight. At this time there will be no Astro Cams. If the weather changes I will turn them on.

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On Tuesday evening I decided that I would visit Bliss…

On Tuesday evening I decided that I would visit Bliss and Misty at Chantilly in France. I left at 9.am on Wednesday morning with a bag of their favorite herbal treats. My expected time of arrival in Chantilly was just before 5.pm (4.pm UK time) but with the French Railways. intermittent strikes, I was unsure of what time that I would arrive. Fortunately the strike did not affect my outward journey, and I was met on time at Chantilly Station by Bliss and Misty’s French Trainer. Even in Strike mode the French Railways are never late.

The Trainer took me directly to his Stables to see Bliss and Misty. As I was told by the Horse Transport Driver, who had drove them to France, the Fillies had arrived safe and well. Misty was a little tense on arriving, I was told by the Trainer, but she was a lot better by the following day. I was talking to the Trainer as we were walking to where Bliss and Misty were stabled. I hope that it was on hearing my voice that caused one of the Fillies to call out, but it was probably a coincidence, but it was no coincidence that when I went into both of their stables, that their noses went straight to my pocket, that I would have normally back home have had their herbal treats in.

I found Bliss and Misty stabled just off of the main stable yard. They had been put there as their two stables were partitioned halfway up by a see through netting, and they were able to be close to each other. Being stabled like this will get them use to being more apart, so that they can eventually be stabled in the main stable yard area. One of the Head Lads was in the stable with Misty, giving her a manicure, pulling her mane, trimming her tail and generally tidying her up. Bliss was to be next. Both during the day had been clipped out. This a procedure where Horses coats are shaved in places where they sweat whilst in training and working. If they are not clipped out, in the Winter their coats take a long while to dry after sweating. When not working the Horses have thick rugs to keep them warm. Most Horses don’t like the sound of electric shavers and are lightly sedated to stop them from chucking a wobbly and hurting themselves or the Stable Lads. Both Bliss and Misty were sedated. It showed me that I had choose the right place for Bliss and Misty. The time that I spent at the Trainers Yard I saw that all of the Horses were being treated with kindness.

In the evening the Trainer invited me to a wine tasting and buying charity dinner, in aid of homeless and orphaned Peruvian Children, it was organised by by the Wife of a French based English Horses Trainer. Chantilly has a large English community, who are involved in Horse Racing, a high percentage of those attending the charity dinner were English, just as well as my French is as good as useless, although the English when talking to other English people spoke French. I had better start learning the language a bit quick. The champagne, wine and dinner made it a memorable night, ever better as on one side sat a lady who is one of France’s largest Race Horse Breeders, on the other, the English Wife of one of the only two French Horse Racing Trainers, who trains the Horses of the Aga Khan. I got back to my Hotel after midnight, a little worse for the champagne and wine I had drunk. On Thursday I spent most of my day at the Racing Stables watching the first work that Bliss and Misty were doing. I will tell you all about it in tomorrows Diary.

Hopefully you will be able to see few photographs that I took in Chantilly. You can access them from the home page, next to the Forum and Diary links.

The first is a photograph of part of an extremely large forest that has training facilities for Race Horses . The Second is one of the training gallops that are as long as the eye can see, with some of the Trainers older Horses training. The last is a photograph of the stable yard that is now Bliss and Misty’s new home. These are only a taster to wet your appetite. There are some of Bliss and Misty that are really good. I will change the photographs on Monday and again later in the week. I am keeping the best till last.

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Sorry that there has not been a Diary for the…

Sorry that there has not been a Diary for the past two nights. I have been to Chantilly in France to see how Bliss and Misty have settled in to their new stables. I only got in at 10. pm tonight, so I will tell you all about it in tomorrows Diary.